Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

Every time one asks the Taoiseach a question in the morning, he reels off figures like a judge at an ice-skating contest, 9.1, 8.6, 7.5 and 6.4. The Government's spending follows political and election cycles but not economic cycles. Its furthest horizon is the next general election and its priority is hanging onto power together. There are always unfulfilled plans but no reforms and no acceptance of ministerial responsibility, even yesterday and today.

No one is ever to blame. In this Government, nothing is ever anyone's fault. Therefore, there are no results because the spend philosophy in this budget does not deal with the fundamental issue of reform in the public service. Reference was made to it in the Taoiseach's address, and there were some references in the address of the Minister for Finance. However, it does not deal with the issue.

Earlier this year, the Travers report on the examination of health levies on long-stay institutions cited long-term overall systematic corporate failure of corporate public administration. That is what it stated and this applies not only to the Department of Health and Children but to other Departments of State also. This was echoed by the Ombudsman when she addressed an Oireachtas committee in June, stating:

[I]n the aftermath of the Travers report, the nature of the relationship between the Executive, between Ministers and civil servants, requires urgent attention ... [T]he wider issue is that the model of government meant to underpin and support the working of Government is no longer fully relevant.

That is why we have a crisis in the Health Service Executive and other areas of the public service. Addressing the Fine Gael parliamentary party in Portlaoise, Professor Drumm stated that in the changeover from the health board system to the HSE, at least 3,000 administrative staff did not know where they fitted into the system. This is the reason for the inability to deliver effective services and the inability of one area to talk to another. The lack of monitoring resulted in the overrun in the PPARS project.

Given the Government's alacrity on child care, one would imagine it was dealing with a state of emergency and that the angel Gabriel appeared in the skies and made a mass visitation to every child in the country. As far back as the budget for 2000, Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats were lamenting the dramatic rise in costs and the major burden on families. It took the Government until the budget for 2006 to do something about it.

It was not the nation's children or the nation's families that roused the Government on child care, rather it was votes. The Government's change of heart on child care did not take place on the road to Damascus but on the N2, the N7 and the by-roads to Nobber and the estates of Navan at the time of the Kildare and Meath by-elections. The Government felt the heat, the issue was brought home to it at this time, it saw results and decided it was time to address the matter.

This budget will not work as a fire escape or an electioneering tool because the people know they are being taken for a ride. Frankly, they are tired of the scenery. Political promises are made, public trust is invited, elections are won, Government promises are broken, public trust is abused and public confidence is shattered.

From public meetings held throughout the country we know that people look at the reality of their day-to-day lives. They consider the difficulties of balancing home life and work life, killer commuting, mortgages that mean they do not have enough money left at the end of the month to put into a pension, and looking after a parent. People live through this every day and see they are not getting the services they need, value for money, or value from their vote and trust. They will never allow this to happen again. Albert Einstein, whose commemorative year this is, described insanity as doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. At the next general election, people will take that advice to heart.

We should not get carried away by the spin that takes place on budget day. The torpedo fired in this budget is of a serious nature. We should never lose sight of the amount of money spent in the budget compared with overall figures and we must examine the detail of these measures.

In spite of buoyant tax revenues in 2005 and very promising projections for 2006 and 2007, 32% of earners, or half of all taxpayers, will pay tax at the top rate. The Government is still a long way from meeting its target of 20% of earners paying tax at the top rate. Average earners across all sectors will continue paying tax at the same rate as high earners. So much for tax reform.

In 2005, the Government received €1.8 billion more than expected in taxation. In this budget, a net of €1.4 billion was given back. The net value of income tax reductions was only €275 million out of a total tax take of €42.2 billion. So much for a low tax Government.

The much-heralded package to assist older people has hardly materialised. The total package of €150 million is less than the amount wasted by the Government on the PPARS debacle. This reflects poorly on the Government's commitment to the elderly as it still owes €1 billion to elderly patients of nursing homes and has failed to introduce an effective inspection regime.

The budget programme might read well in paragraphs but when one speaks to nurses in the community, considers the number of retirements taking place this year and considers that no nurses are coming on stream this year, this package is going to be difficult to implement. Trained staff, such as public health nurses, will not be available.

The package for carers, €27 million, got the same priority as the reduction in betting tax. The Government is still running €2.5 billion behind in its capital spending programme.

Given the Government's appalling record in implementing previous multi-annual plans, such as the health strategy, decentralisation and road safety, there is little confidence that the aspirations for increased child care places will be met. While the new early child care supplement is welcome, it will have little impact on working parents who will have to earn at least €300 per week to pay for current child care costs. I am not downgrading the package which is welcome and has been promoted by this party for a long time.

The €1,000 payment per child is welcome but it comes with a reduced increase in child benefit of €1.94 per week and no increase in child dependant allowance. The €10,000 limit in respect of taxation for child care means there is no link to quality in this area. Fine Gael had a detailed proposal on this matter to make it easier for parents and better for children. Everyone understands the importance of vetting, standards and child care but those providing child care who earn more than that limit have no incentive to join in this proposal.

An opportunity to announce an innovative scheme to encourage SSIA savers to continue the savings habit by investing in pensions has been lost. This will be a crucial issue in the future. This would have helped the lower paid, in particular, to invest in their pensions and is a serious missed opportunity. We see shops advertising credit terms that will allow payment for goods when SSIAs mature. This means that much of this money will be frittered away on loose credit and the Government has lost an opportunity for pensions savings.

One of the biggest problems with this budget is not just in the fine print but the missing print. Energy is an example, as the budget treatment of alternative energy is risible, proving the Government has not just lost touch with life in Ireland but in the wider world. The Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Roche, is in Canada today. Climate change has the capacity not just to affect day-to-day life but is quickly reaching the level where it can radically alter human existence. Judging by this budget, the Government does not appreciate what is happening.

In monetary terms alone, disregarding the higher matters of our international responsibilities, we face fines of more than €400 million if we fail to meet our obligations on emissions. Credits are only a partial solution. We need a change of heart if we are to step up to the 21st century and examine our energy equation.

With the days of easy oil over, energy security is exercising every responsible government in every developed economy in the world, except Ireland. The Government is hanging the country out to dry by its stubborn refusal to recognise two issues. First, that alternative energy is critical, not just to our economic success, but to our economic survival in the future and second, that it has the potential to create thousands of new jobs and become a dynamic, sustainable sector of our economy.

It would have been preferable if the Minister's initiative regarding biofuels had dealt with blended fuels in the first instance, which do not carry a range of high conversion costs and which would have allowed for immediate participation by the public transport network. At a time when the Minister for Agriculture and Food has single-handedly wiped out the beet industry, the Government has missed an opportunity to develop alternative growth and jobs for farmers. Furthermore, I did not see anything in the budget about the capacity that wind energy could contribute to this country over the next 20 years. Legislation currently in place deprives people of the capacity to enter that market, which is scandalous.

There are, of course, a number of aspects of this budget that are welcome. If the Government is going to spend €3 billion, it is bound to please some people. We have been accused on this side of the House of not producing policy programmes but in this budget I can see six policies, at least, that have been lifted from the Fine Gael website or party documents. The Taoiseach does not have to steal Deputy Joe Higgins's clothes all of the time. There is the issue of the €1,000 payment, which was promoted by Deputy Stanton; the increased birth-related leave; the capping of tax reliefs, which Deputy Bruton has been advocating for the last three years; the reform of the Estimates process, on which we put forward a detailed document; the reduction of excise duty on biofuels, promoted by Deputy Durkan; and the increase in the VAT threshold for small businesses, which is welcome but not enough, promoted by Deputy Hogan.

This budget does not address the issue of competitiveness in the way it should. Manufacturing jobs number 300,000, which is the same level as seven years ago. Approximately 100,000 of those jobs are relatively new, which means the manufacturing sector is running hard to stand still. The construction industry has been boosted to almost 250,000 employees and is a critical element of what is now driving our economy. Ten or 15 years ago, our economy was based on exports, productivity and sales. We are now in a situation where we are running hard to stand still in terms of manufacturing competitiveness and are being sustained by very strong growth in the construction industry.

I welcome Deputy Cowen's initiative on the fourth tier of education but while it represents a start, it is a very small one. I accept that Universities will have to compete for funding but perhaps we should take a more radical approach. Why, for example, are there seven chemistry faculties in Dublin alone? If we are serious about research and innovation, we must ascertain if there is a better way of dealing with the future in terms of the specialist area of PhD education. I am also not sure if this issue should be left with the Department of Education and Science. That Department is the oldest and most retrospective of all Departments.

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